FENEL0N.

351

appeared, we concealed his errors, even to meriting thereproaches of the king. When his work came out, hehad ruined himself. My silence was impenetrable tillthen. How can we be accused of jealousy ? Could weenvy him the honour of painting madame Guyon andMolinos in favourable colours ? We desire and we hopeto see M. de Cambray soon acknowledge at least the in-utility of his speculations. It was not worthy of him,nor of the reputation he enjoys, nor of his character,his position, nor understanding, to defend the books ofa woman of this kind; and we continually hear hisfriends lament that he displayed his erudition, and em-ployed his eloquence, on such unsubstantial subjects.”

Such an exposition confounded even Fenelon ’s friends:they drooped till his answer came, whose gentle, un-affected, yet animated eloquence convinced the public,and prevented it from any longer confounding his causewith that of madame Guyon . He called to witnessthose eyes that enlighten earthly darkness, that he wasattached to no person nor book, but to God and thechurch only, and that he prayed unceasingly for thereturn of peace and the shortening the period of scandal,and that he was ready to bestow on M. de Meaux asmany blessings as he had heaped crosses on him. Hedeclared that he had long ago rejected his book, andbeen willing to be thrown into the sea to calm thestorm, had he thought that his work could foster illusionor occasion scandal; but that he could not allow him-self to be disgraced for the sake of his sacred calling.He appealed to Bossuet against himself, and showedwith dignity, how injuriously he was treated, on beingheld up as an impostor by a man who once had calledhim, “ his dear friend for life, whom he carried in hisheart.” He then proved that he had not supportedmadame Guyon *, nor approved her visions, concerning

# * Poor madame Guyon,thus thrown overby both, suffered much persecu-tion, and was frequently imprisoned. After her liberation from the Bastileshe lived in obscurity j but Fenelon always regarded her with affectionand respect. She was an enthusiast , full of imagination and talent, andthough in error, yet ever declared herself an obedient daughter of thecatholic church.